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Info Absolution (Summary - List of stories) . The Murdered Albatross << previous act | Act 4 of 4 | next act >> The Confession Of Sins << previous chapter |''' Chapter 37 of 39 | next chapter >> << previous scene | '''Scene 1 of 2 | next scene >> Summary * Location: *Participants: *Time: *Summary: Text They took a few hours to rest and recover, during which Antares spent a long time sitting quietly by himself up on top of the rail bridge, just staring out into the distance, thinking about things. They had lost three of Celestia's Yamato Guard, everyone had sustained moderate to serious injuries, but Antares understood that they were fortunate overall... even Celestia. She had almost died, but when Cancer had finally been destroyed, his disease had gone with him, and the illness had slowly faded from the ivory equine. Antares lowered his head a bit, thinking quietly to himself... and then he smiled faintly, closing his eyes as he murmured: "You weren't there." "I know. It took me longer to catch up to you than I expected... I didn't know Cancer was lurking around until too late." Allonym said quietly, as he dropped to sit down on the edge of the rail bridge before smiling a little, pointing down at the gathering of ponies. "But I did stop in to heal your friends and Celestia. Although I think she was working hard not to set me on fire and Discombobulation threw some mud at me." The Draconequus brushed at himself absently, and the young stallion laughed a little as he nodded slowly. Then there was silence for a few moments, before he looked up and asked finally: "So you really... didn't know?" Allonym shook his head slowly, murmuring quietly: "In retrospect I should have, and I understand you being upset with me... but you're not for some reason, are you?" Allonym tilted his head with interest, absently fiddling with his cane. "Well, you seem a little peeved, but at the same time..." "It was a chance to do things over, and do things right this time. And I did." Antares laughed a little, glancing to the side and shaking his head slowly before he slowly looked up at the red sky above. "It hurt, and it was hard, and... I had to fight down instincts I didn't even know I had. But I did it, and we beat him... we stopped him, and we did it the right way." Allonym nodded slowly, and then the Draconequus looked up as well, saying softly: "I'll be accompanying you until the end of this journey now, Antares. I don't know what awaits us, but I do know that we have a long road ahead... but a boring one, too, I think. I hope, anyway... the last thing I want is to run into more Tyrant Wyrms. I have a feeling I wouldn't be all that much help against them." Antares only shrugged a little, and then he hesitated before glancing over at the Draconequus. Most of his bandaging had been removed and the worst damages had all healed, and the young stallion smiled a little before he hesitantly said: "Allonym, I'm... I'm glad you're here. I know we don't exactly always see eye-to-eye on things but your presence... does reassure me." "Yeah, well, it shouldn't. I'm usually a prelude to things getting bad, after all." Allonym replied mildly, rubbing slowly at the underside of his muzzle before he drew his eyes down to the young stallion, laughing quietly: "Thanks, though, kid. Considering how selfish and all this is, that means a lot to me to hear." The young stallion nodded, and then he hesitated before he asked quietly: "Allonym... am I going to find my parents? Do you know if... if they're alive? If they're okay?" "You'll find them, Antares, you've got everything you need. The biggest problem is the chasm ahead..." Allonym hesitated, then he shook his head slowly and murmured quietly: "Except no, I don't think that will prove a great difficulty after all. We have to go down, after all, if you're really intent on finding your parents... into the darkness, the depths of Clockwork World." Antares nodded slowly, and then he gazed silently down the bridge. They were both quiet as Allonym looked meditatively down, before both Allonym and Antares flinched as a voice asked quietly: "Can I join you?" The Draconequus flailed a bit as he half-turned, only to slip off the edge with a yelp and plummet from the bridge as Antares stared down in shock. And then he winced as Allonym crashed loudly into the mire below, sending up a burst of sludge and goo as Meadowlark ran forwards to the edge of the structure, breathing hard. "I... I didn't mean to scare him off the bridge, I... oh god, do you think he's okay?" Antares opened his mouth to respond... and then Allonym twitched a little far, far below, the young stallion's sharp eyes barely able to pick up on it before the Draconequus flopped around and yelled in a half-frustrated, half-miserable voice: "I think my everything's broken! Oh hell, why does it hurt so damn much?" Antares sighed in relief as he sat back a bit, then he smiled lamely over at Meadowlark as she leaned forwards worriedly before the young stallion finally reached up and touched her shoulder, saying quietly: "He'll be okay. He's coming with us too, actually... and... Meadow, what are you doing up here? You're not usually... you know. Aerial." "I know, but... I wanted to see you." Meadowlark sat back, looking nervously down at where Allonym was slowly picking himself up before she shook her head and sighed softly, fidgeting a little and offering an awkward smile over to the pony. "I just... I thought you should have someone around. I didn't know you were talking to Allonym..." "It's okay. I... do need someone around, yeah. And Allonym is... it's always kind of weird with him, you know?" Antares glanced down at the chimerical creature, smiling a little before he shook his head slowly. "I guess he's kind of like my guide." Meadowlark nodded a bit, and then the two traded looks before she lowered her head a little, saying softly: "Antares, I'm... I wanna say that I'm sorry, again. For hurting you, and for... you know, not being more help against Cancer..." "Meadow, you saved my life." Antares said softly, looking over at her with a faint smile before he shook his head slowly. "And you destroyed one of those pumps by yourself, too... how did you do that?" "Hornet Needles are made to pierce through armor if necessary to do an injection, that's all... Zecora said I should always carry an acid with me, just in case." The Pegasus smiled a bit, glancing down and rubbing at her side slowly. "Acids, explosives, reagents and medical elixirs... there's so much that I have to balance carrying as part of my kit, you know?" The Pegasus glanced down, then she shook her head slowly as she laughed a little. "Still, though, I... I am sorry, and I wish that I had done more. I wish that I was better, Antares, and I feel like I screwed up in not figuring out sooner that Cancer was actually there, inside you." Meadowlark glanced down quietly. "I was the one who treated you, after all, and who was trying to help you. I know that not even Scarlet Sage found him in your bloodstream but... all the same. I... I should have known." Antares only shook his head slowly, smiling faintly as he murmured quietly: "It's okay, Meadow. It really is, there... not even I knew. If anyone should have known, I should have, but I didn't, and Allonym didn't and... you know." He quieted, looking down before shaking his head slowly and closing his eyes. "But Cancer's gone now, destroyed and defeated. And we can move on. We can push forwards, and find my parents, and soon it's all going to be over. We'll bring them back home, and everything will be okay again, and we'll finally have the time to pick up all the pieces and figure things out. Figure everything out." Meadowlark nodded slowly, hesitantly reaching over to take one of his hooves, and Antares squeezed it firmly as he smiled a little and closed his eyes. "I hope you're right, Antares. I really do. But I mean... don't take this the wrong way... will finding your parents really fix everything?" "No, it won't. I know it won't." Antares murmured after a moment, and then he smiled a little over at the Pegasus, shaking his head a little as he said quietly: "But it's a start, you know? And it's something I've been waiting ten years for, Meadow... they... they mean so much to me. Mom and Dad were... they were parents, and they were my friends, and I could always, always count on them. And when they're back, I... I know it's selfish, but I know a lot of the focus will go from people depending on me to... people will look up to them again. And I'll have them to guide me, in ways even Twilight hasn't been able to... I know how lucky I've been, but... I'm greedy, I guess." "That's not greedy, Antares, I understand. And... I'm happy for you, I am. I still hope, some days, that... my parents will..." Meadowlark quieted, and then she closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. Antares looked over at her silently, and then she slipped a little closer to him, squeezing his hoof between her own before she said softly: "I believe you, though. And I guess I know what you meant by... how things are going to be okay. I just... want to make sure that you aren't going to obsess or anything." "I know, Meadow. I... I remember how I was in the past, yeah, but I know that... we all have to come first. Before the mission, before even my parents. And honestly, I think that... if we'd come into Clockwork World and it had been awful... I would have ordered everyone to turn back if it was at all possible." Antares smiled faintly after a moment, shaking his head slowly, and then he laughed a little before confessing: "Although... I might have wanted to go on alone." "That would be the obsessing I was worrying about, you idiot." Meadowlark chided quietly, and Antares smiled a little as she looked across at him, before closing her eyes and silently dropping her head on his shoulder, asking hesitantly: "So... is... is he really dead?" "No, I'm fine and well, thank you so much for your concern." muttered a grumpy voice, and Antares and Meadowlark both winced before looking back at the sight of Allonym standing behind them, leaning heavily on his cane and splattered with mire and mud. He glowered at them, and Antares stared... then the young stallion began to giggle a bit despite himself, hurriedly trying to cover his muzzle as Meadowlark looked incredulously at the young stallion, then returned her own eyes to the muddy, glowering Draconequus... and couldn't help but start giggling herself. "Oh yeah, laugh it up fuzzball, and you too, princess. I'd shove you both off the bridge but the point is moot due to your stupid wings." Allonym grumbled, and then he limped forwards and poked Antares lightly in the back a few times with his cane, muttering: "Your wings are stupid. They're cheating. They shouldn't exist. They're retarded. Boo, I'm assuming this alicorn-styled character is clearly a Gary Stu of some kind, especially since he's such a nice guy." "What's wrong with my horn?" Antares Mīrus glanced up with surprise at this, and the Draconequus looked meditative for a few moments before he nodded wisely in understanding, carefully stepping past the young stallion to sit down with a grunt again at the edge of the rail bridge. "And usually Discombobulation is the one who does all the... references, I guess they are, right?" Allonym nodded, grunting as he put the cane aside. "Yeah, but I'm a Draconequus, I can do that too. Besides, I use specific references from specific things. And you'll forgive me, I forgot the word 'alicorn' has a different meaning here than a lot of the other layers. You guys are all so... weird, you know that? You're really hard to work with." He paused, then glanced up and shrugged after a moment, murmuring: "But then again, I suppose I probably am myself, so I really shouldn't talk. Besides, like I remind myself now and then... I'm not the potter, only the potter's clay. Or maybe I'm just the tool through which the potter shapes his clay... that... you know, that thing that spins around." "A potter's wheel?" Meadowlark said curiously, and the Draconequus snapped his fingers and pointed at her, making a face as he rubbed at his head with his other hand. "Precisely. I forget the simplest, stupidest words sometimes... the thesaurus is probably my best friend. You know, if I had friends." Allonym said dryly, and then he glanced meditatively over at Antares as the young stallion smiled and opened his mouth, before the Draconequus rose a finger quickly. "Don't say it. For one thing, you wouldn't want me as a friend. For another thing, I think it would look really bad if I said 'oh, these ponies in this story are my best friends.'" Allonym put a big, vapid grin on his face, eyes sparkling unnaturally, and Antares couldn't help but laugh and shake his head before the Draconequus returned to his usual dry expression. "It's funny that you get that, even if you don't entirely get what I'm talking about, or how being an Avatar works. Also, it's really not fun. I'm just glad that the ground is soft down there and I don't seem to break too easy. Although I have no doubt I'm going to hurt for a while." The Draconequus mumbled to himself, rolling his shoulders slowly before Meadowlark glanced up and said with a small smile: "Maybe you worry too much. Maybe you're thinking about what everyone else thinks too much. Maybe you need to just sit back, relax with us... your friends... and know that... you know, we're always here for you." Allonym looked over at her thoughtfully, and then he glanced down, fumbling in his jacket before producing his notebook and fountain pen. Both ponies looked curiously at the Draconequus as he jotted something quickly down, then smiled a little, glancing over whatever line he had just written before slamming the book closed when Antares tried to lean over to read it, saying curtly: "Mine. Not yours." Antares only shook his head slowly as Meadowlark laughed a little, and then the three quietly looked up towards the crimson sky above: three strange friends, but sharing a friendship that was all the better for it. Category:Transcript Category:Story